JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — Jamestown High School Football Coach Tom Langworthy, and members of the team, are leading the area youth football camp formerly known as the Future Red Raiders.

That, as well as the future of the Red Raiders name, will soon be a thing of the past, as state education leaders have required districts like Jamestown and athletic staff to remove Native American imagery and references.

What You Need To Know

  • NYS Department of Education asking school districts to remove Native American references and imagery

  • Districts like Jamestown already changed mascots and is now required to remove Red Raider

  • The district has put out a community survey with a deadline of 6/30 to pick one of the pre-selected names or suggest one

"There's a lot of people that wish we could keep the name. Once a Raider, always a Raider. There's some people that, they're not happy to see it go and I understand that,” said Jamestown Athletic Director Ben Drake.

The district already changed its logo a couple of years back but kept the Red Raider name, something the school has had for more than 100 years after it was changed from the Red and Green Raiders and before that, the Red and Green.

Now the community is being asked to help choose the next team name.

"Jamestown especially has a lot of pride and tradition. And when you think of Jamestown High School, a lot of people think of the Red Raiders,” said Drake.

"It's very important we get a large swath of our community involved and they give us their opinions so we can move forward confidently knowing that's what the community supports,” said Dr. Kevin Whitaker, superintendent of Jamestown Public Schools. 

Whitaker says time is running out, as survey takers only have until Friday to select one of the suggested names or submit one of their own before the top picks move on to the next round of voting.

He says not only is the change a state requirement, but also a request from the Seneca Nation of Indians.

"They've been helpful, very clear, very good partners to help us learn about their history and the history of even our mascot,” said Whitaker.

Whitaker says while he understands some may be upset about the change, the honor of being part of the school, past or present is reflected not in a name, but in one's achievements and friendships made along the way.

"As we move forward into a new name, we will have a new group, a new crop of alumni who are going to be just as proud of that new nickname as they were the old,” said Whitaker.

Like the future players taking part in the camp. 

"It's important for us to get our students and our community and alumni feedback. And so we want to give them a platform to express those opinions,” said Drake. 

The goal is to submit a name to the local board of education by the end of December. 

The district like many others also has to foot the bill for all the changes, some of which are simple, like letterhead or signage, while others are more challenging, like entire fields and scoreboards.

Local district leaders also say the state has told them they've had plenty of time to allocate the funding.

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